Westside takes over police building

by Wayne Moore Castanet:

The District of Westside will take over administration of the proposed Westside Public Safety Building. Until now, the Regional District of Central Okanagan has overseen the project. Westside Mayor, Rosalind Neis, first brought up the idea publicly in August, when tender bids began coming in far over budget. "Since inception this project has been in the hands of the regional district, even before the District of Westside was incorporated. It doesn't appear to me the District of Westside has been in control of this situation from the beginning," Neis told Council on August 19. "It is starting to unravel. Prices have gone up and the building size has gone down." Omicron, the company contracted to manage the tender process and construction of the building, will remain at the helm. In making the motion earlier this week, Neis says the time was right to make the move. "Ultimately it will be Westside taxpayer dollars that fund it, so I felt as a municipality, it was good for the citizens that we had control over it."

Neis says she wasn't unhappy with the way the RDCO handled the project. She says they followed a certain philosophy as to the design of the building, but adds Westside does have the staff in place now, so the time is right to take over. Neis says the municipality will look at all aspects of the project, including the look and design of the building. "Until the building is built you are never too far along, so, I'm looking forward to our staff reviewing all the information and all the possible options and being able to present that openly to the public for input." While the municipality will now administer the project, it is still not known when construction will actually begin. Council is waiting until the end of the month to make that decision after going over a cost analysis report, expected to be complete within the next week. The cost of the RCMP building, originally pegged at $8.2 million will now cost $9.44 million. The RCMP has indicated it will contribute $1.2 million to the project upon occupancy.